Martial Law: Lo Wei's Wuxia World

Presented here are three standout films drawn from Lo Wei's wuxia world: The Black Butterfly, Death Valley and Vengeance of a Snow Girl.

A prolific writer and director, Lo Wei found fame in the 1970s following the enormous international success of The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, his collaborations with the inimitable Bruce Lee. In the years before he kickstarted a kung fu revolution, though, he had been working on an accomplished series of wuxia pian for Shaw Brothers. Presented here are three standout films drawn from Lo Wei's wuxia world: 'The Black Butterfly', 'Death Valley' and 'Vengeance of a Snow Girl'.

In 'The Black Butterfly', a good-hearted thief acts as the Robin Hood of the martial world, robbing from the rich to give to the poor - and they begin by stealing a fortune in gold from a group of five ruthless bandits holed up at Five Devils Rock. Then, in 'Death Valley', the Lord of Chao Manor (Lo Wei) is murdered by his niece (Angela Yu Chien), leading to a bitter fight to claim his land and a clash between a hired swordsman (Chen Hung-lieh) and the Lord's heir apparent (Yueh Hua). Finally, in 'Vengeance of a Snow Girl', a young woman (Li Ching) takes revenge for her murdered parents, who were killed in a dispute over the legendary Tsui Feng sword - leading to a final showdown on frozen ground.

Lo Wei's 'The Black Butterfly', 'Death Valley' and 'Vengeance of a Snow Girl' are three of the finest wuxia films produced in the years before Bruce Lee's meteoric rise to fame would cause a tectonic shift in the Hong Kong film industry, as the era of kung fu loomed on the horizon.

Bonus Materials

• Limited Edition of 2,000 copies
• Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju)
• Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on all three films in this set by Hong Kong cinema expert Camille Zaurin
• 1080p HD presentations of all three films on Blu-ray
• Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
• New audio commentaries on all three features by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
• Hong Kong Hustle – new interview with Hong Kong cinema scholar Wayne Wong on the life and work of Lo Wei
• * All extras subject to change

Cast & Crew

Actors:

• Ching Lee
• Yue Hua
• Chiao Chiao
• Sammo Kam-Bo Hung
• Kun Li
• Paul Chang Chung
• Angela Yu Chien
• Hung-Lieh Chen
• Hsiung Chao
• Hsi Chang
• Yun Ho
• Kang-Yeh Cheng
• Yu Chin Chang
• Mien Fang
• Ying-Chieh Han
• Ku Feng
• Ching-Ho Wang
• Lu-Po Tu
• Feng Tien
• Fan Mei-Sheng

Director: Lo Wei